Chronic short staffing, COVID-19 outbreaks compromise vital services for adults with developmental disabilities in Brampton

Brampton, ON—Developmental service workers in Brampton and Caledon call for adequate staffing and government support to address growing staff shortages, and safety concerns, in the region. “Chronic short staffing, coupled with inadequate funding compromises the quality of life of adults with developmental disabilities. We don’t have the staffing levels needed to ensure the safety of…

What is the government’s plan for schools without education workers during COVID?

TORONTO, ON – Education workers are demanding that the Ford government come up with a plan that ensures custodians, education assistants (EAs), school secretaries and others are able to stay on the job once schools reopen next week, says the union that represents 55,000 education workers in Ontario. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)…

Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement ignores the child care crisis in Ontario

Toronto, ON—The Ford Conservatives’ Fall Economic Statement fails families by continuing to ignore the importance of child care to our social and economic recovery. There was little mention of child care and no new, critically needed funding announced. Families and educators continue to wait for the Ford government to sign on to the federal child…

Sioux Lookout Mayor and Council take risky gamble on child care; exposes region to possible loss of crucial services in “child care desert”, reports CUPE

Sioux Lookout, ON—Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members at Biidaaban and Sioux Mountain Children’s Centres are fearful of child care space loss after the Municipality of Sioux Lookout announces transfer of child care services to the Kenora District Service Board (KDSB). “At a time when child care is crucial for our COVID-19 economic recovery,…

New Ontario LTC Act misses opportunity for reforms needed for better resident care, stable workforce and no more profit in care

TORONTO, ON – With this new Ontario Long Term Care Act, the Ontario government has missed an opportunity to enhance resident care by stabilizing the workforce with a guaranteed increase to full-time jobs and universal, across the board wage increases, says Candace Rennick, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, secretary-treasurer. “Equally egregious is not…

While the Ford government delays and distracts, child care advocates call for system overhaul; Ontario must make child care a right

TORONTO, ON – A recent announcement by the Ford government of targeted after-school recreation programs is a further distraction from the province’s failure to sign a child care deal, reports CUPE. Advocates urge Premier Ford to focus on making child care a right in the province by implementing $10-a-day child care and creating a workforce…

Advocates call on Premier Ford to include decent work, expansion of non-profit spaces in Ontario’s child care agreement with the federal government

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC), and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) echo calls on Doug Ford to sign a bilateral child care agreement that puts decent work at its core and includes a moratorium on the expansion of for-profit…